A New Beginning
by Daisystarre
Summary: She loved Konoha and made it her ultimate goal to eliminate anything that threatened the village. Throwing away her life as a loyal shinobi, she embarked on a self-appointed mission to infiltrate the Akatsuki. However, she found her new life among S-ranked criminals different from what she expected. *OC warning
1. Plans

**A/N: Hey- it's Aileen :) this is a shared account with my friend Sophie fyi. Go read her story if you're interested in Minecraft or The Hunger Games. It's called _Minecraft Battle Games_.**

**Anyway, a year ago or so, I was pretty obsessed with the Akatsuki and _maybe_** **a certain Jashinist. So then I wondered if Hidan was the only Jashinist or if there were more. I decided to write about it, since I wanted to try out fanfiction. Then... After literally an entire year of inactivity, I read over that story again, and honestly, that idea seemed kind of weird to me. Who would be sane enough to defect from th it village secretly on a self appointed mission to infiltrate the Akatsuki of all people? But, I think I'll just go on with the plot and see what I can make of it. I edited it so much that I decided to publish it as a new story.**

**If you want to see my original version, feel free to check it out ;) it's also called _A New Beginning._ However, it's missing the second chapter since I lost it D:**

**I also drew the first scene, since I was going to make it into a doujin, but it took way too long. It's on Deviant Art, and the link to my DA account is on my profile page. You might have to scroll through some of my newer drawings and stuff to find it though. **

**Hope you enjoy! :)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto.**

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><p>Tsunade stared, dumbfounded at the masked woman in front of her. She stood obediently in front of Tsunade, who had no idea what to make of the situation. Here was one of her most trusted ANBU captains, a gifted med-nin with an unique Kekkei Genkai, Wolf. Wolf had been personally trained by Shizune, Tsunade's assistant. At first, it was only an attempt to increase knowledge of medical ninjutsu in the ANBU, but because of the promise that Wolf had shown, Tsunade had decided to let her continue her training with Shizune. After that, Wolf had gradually earned Tsunade's trust. However, that trust was all shattered like glass in a matter of moments. <em>How could she act so calm?<em> Tsunade thought horrified_, Dammit, she left the village on an S-rank mission in a standard team of four.__ And now __here she is,_ alone_ and covered in the remains of her comrades! Two of them were part of her former genin team on top of that!_

"Is there anything wrong, Tsunade-sama..?" Wolf asked innocently.

"Repeat what you just said. I believe I didn't hear you correctly," Tsunade ordered through gritted teeth.

"I eliminated the bandits fortunately. They were very skilled, and had sensed our ambush long before we realized it. Since no one was expecting it, my team was ambushed instead. I now understand why it was an S-rank mission. Unfortunately, Fox and Badger were killed in the process. While they were holding the bandits down, I cut through them all."

"You... You have the role of the med-nin on your team. You're supposed to heal your comrades, not kill them!"

Tsunade tried to keep her tone calm, but disbelief made its way into her voice. Wolf still remained impassive.

"You said that I had to ensure the eliminate the bandits, or they could become a huge threat to Konoha. With Fox and Badger's sacrifices, I had successfully removed all potential threats."

"And there was no other option?"

"No."

Tsunade sighed, "We will talk again later. You're dismissed."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama," Wolf bowed her head slightly and disappeared in a poof of smoke. Tsunade thought she saw something flash in the eyes of the ANBU just before she left, but quickly dismissed it as her imagination and brought her hands to her temples. Wolf surely did not help lessen the headache from that morning.

A group of boisterous genin had barged into her office earlier that morning looking for a lost pet cockroach. After searching for 30 minutes, they had requested her help. Hell no! She was the Hokage, and _was not_ going to search the entire village for some tiny bug. It could have been trampled on and squashed flat for all she cared.

Shortly after that, Kakashi had come wandering in with his nose in that perverted book of his, giggling at whatever was on the pages. Tsunade really did not want to know. She had also made a mental note to herself to kill Jiraiya for writing that shit he called his genius creation and for corrupting her shinobi's minds. Anyway, Kakashi had been summoned _three hours_ ago. When she had reprimanded him for it, he had just laughed it off dismissively, coming up with another lame excuse that she could not recall. Tsunade was almost sure that Kakashi deliberately put effort into his tardiness.

After Kakashi had been given his mission and dismissed, Tsunade had sighed and looked out the window in frustration, just to see Shizune stumbling precariously towards the Hokage Tower with an extravagant pile of paperwork. She had sighed once more and hoped that the paperwork would be the end of her crappy morning. It wasn't. Just at that moment Tonton had burst through the door that Kakashi had forgotten to close. A cat followed, hissing. Frightened to death, Tonton had leaped onto Tsunade, burrowing deep into her arms, trembling. Two chuunins had appeared, out of breath, diving after the cat. Papers had flown everywhere. Tables and chairs had been turned over. Tsunade had sat in the midst of the chaos, barely containing her anger. Finally, the cat had escaped the room, with the chuunin in pursuit. Who the hell had sent two chuunin to catch a cat of all things? Tsunade now wondered how the heck they had passed the chuunin exams. Even some idiot genin could catch a cat. Now she had Wolf to deal with also.

Tsunade fumed. When had Wolf become like this? Sure, she used to be from a rash clan of overly suicidal and religious people, but she had proven herself a powerful and loyal shinobi by joining the ANBU at the age of fifteen. Wolf had always put her comrades in consideration before attacking, believing strongly that people who abandon their comrades were absolute trash. For a second, Tsunade wondered if it was an imposter, but promptly shook her head free of that thought. The chakra signature earlier definitely belonged to Wolf. Maybe her clan elder had talked her into following her religion for once. They were the damned Jashinists, killing whatever that got in their way. They never planned ahead. They were only loyal the 'wonderful Lord Jashin-sama.' Tsunade glared daggers at the floor. Why the hell had her grandfather let these idiots into her village? They were loyal to an evil god. Surely that fact alone proved their inability to be rational.

A realization struck Tsunade. She frowned. Why hadn't she noticed before? Wolf had been acting odd recently. The other day, she had even refused to treat a hospital patient in a dangerous condition, claiming that it was incurable when it was obvious to Tsunade that he could have been saved. She had ordered Wolf to let her take care of it, but Wolf had snapped back, insisting that she was fine. Tsunade sighed. She would watch Wolf closely for a few days. Suddenly, a knock on the office door disturbed Tsunade from her train of thought. She sighed again, "Come in."

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><p>Wolf jumped from roof to roof, careful to remain invisible on her way home. She was covered in blood and was not a pretty sight to take in. Plus, her identity and location were supposed to be confidential. Seeing her apartment complex ahead, Wolf breathed a sigh of relief. No one had seen her. Quickly, Wolf slipped through the opened window and flopped down tiredly onto the floor. Wolf glanced around once, taking in the untouched traps she had set before taking off her mask and leaving behind the identity of Wolf.<p>

She was now Haruka. She was no longer the stoic, merciless tool known as Wolf, but Haruka, an average looking kunoichi. There was really no distinguishing feature about her, as she could easily pass off as a civilian with dull brown hair that was tied up messily in a bun (Except for the fact that it was currently matted with dirt and blood). However, Haruka's dark magenta eyes set her off from the others. People had always commented on her hypnotizing eyes and their endless depths, but Haruka hated them. Every time she looked at her reflection through the mirror, she did not see the beautiful orbs that others saw, but death. They were characteristic of her family, reminding her too much of her past, the Takimoto Clan.

Once upon a time, Haruka would have proudly declared herself a Takimoto, but as time passed, she had seen the darkness that lingered the shadows of her clan. Haruka wished she could go back to the blissful ignorance of her childhood, when her family seemed like any other shinobi clan. However, when she threw away her childhood to become a shinobi, everything changed. She was taught about Jashin, the god of evilness, and how her family worshiped him. They were granted immortality along with a special Kekkei Genkai. It was connected to a gruesome ritual, where the victim would be granted a slow and painful death by the user. After being exposed to the horrors of her clan, Haruka didn't know what to do with her life anymore. Her entire clan, including her, technically were not completely immortal, but could withstand almost any injury possible. Sure, this gave her an advantage over enemies, but it still hurt like a bitch to be cut. She had never been stabbed through the heart or had her head severed, luckily, because only few could survive that. Even their supposed immortality would wear off, eventually giving in to old age, but sometimes, Haruka still wished that she could die sooner and be spared from the nightmare that she was forced to live with.

Haruka had almost given up on a shinobi path, guilty of her clan, but decided that it would have been cowardly of her to do so. Despite climbing the ranks at an impressive rate, she lived in fear of herself. It all changed when medical ninjutsu was introduced to her. If she learned it, not only could she heal herself after performing the damn ritual, she could heal others instead of killing. Killing reminded her too much of the rituals. Of course, she was in the ANBU then and still had no choice but to kill, but at least it was a way to pay off some of her guilt. At first, her reason for learning it was just a selfish one, but she quickly realized the importance of being a med-nin and fell in love with it. It gave her the will to live.

She stopped performing the rituals. She stopped sacrificing living beings. She was a med-nin and would not kill unless it was necessary for protecting others. Not all the time at least. There was no way she would cut herself up on a daily basis.

The elders were not pleased. They kicked her out as soon as they found out what was going on.

Haruka glanced distastefully at the floor tiles in the kitchen. It was splattered with blood from one of her past rituals that she had neglected to clean up. Although she hated her clan's religion, she still felt some need to maintain that connection with them. Seeing she was already covered in gore, she decided to clean up before taking a shower.

She hummed sadly as she filled a bucket with water. A few years back, Haruka had requested to infiltrate the Akatsuki as a Konoha spy. She loved her village and wanted to help eliminate the evil organization of S-rank criminals. Of course it wouldn't be easy, but she was the best choice. She was known well around the ANBU for lying and acting, making her the perfect candidate for an infiltration mission. Tsunade said no. She refused to send Haruka on a suicide mission. Despite the Hokage's decision, her friend, Akio believed that she could do it despite the danger. He was one of the many geniuses from the famous Nara clan. It was given that he was a lazy ass, but he could still come up with the most brilliant plans ever. They had already spent months making preparations together, getting more and more nervous as the date of departure drew closer. Haruka had been acting out of character on purpose, so that the village would have a reason for her disappearance once she left.

_Tonight's the night. _

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><p>A dark shadow darted between the buildings. An untrained eye would have missed it completely. Slinking out the front gates of Konoha, it passed the chuunin guards who were dozing off on their late night shifts. It jumped into the trees on the side of the road and disappeared. Deeper in the woods, far from the guarded walls of the village, a lone ANBU with a sparrow mask waited above in the branches. The shadow appeared behind him, a kunai held up to his throat. Unfazed, the ANBU vanished. Not a second later, the clang of metal against metal reverberated through the trees.<p>

"Who are you?" the ANBU questioned threateningly, slowly drawing out his tanto. It had managed to sneak up on him, after all.

"I don't feel obliged to answer," the shadow whispered behind him, barely audible.

The ANBU whirled around, swinging his tanto in a neat arc, but sliced through nothing but air.

"I'll ask one more time: Who are you?" he repeated. He was answered with silence. Unsatisfied, the ANBU immediately located his target and attacked, refusing to let it get away.

"Will you leave me alone?" it whispered once more, fending off the incoming attack. The ANBU ignored its words.

"Leave now, please."

"Why should I?"

"Soon you'll find out."

The ANBU had the mysterious shadow pressed up against a tree, ready to deliver the finishing blow, but paused. He recognized another message beneath the whispered words. _I will leave soon._

"For what?" he responded.

"A1437-7858."

The ANBU lowered his weapons, acknowledging it, "Wolf."

"Sparrow."

The shadow dropped its Henge. At the same time, the ANBU lowered his sparrow mask. Gleaming magenta eyes met the weary gaze of a Nara.

Haruka grinned at Akio.

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><p><strong><strong>AN: I don't know if Hidan's immortality is a Kekkei Genkai of some sort or the result of some screwed up experiment. I also made some stuff, but lets just go along with it for the sake of the story. And I didn't go into the details of the ritual thing, since I'm assuming you all know about it already. Plus, I'm not sure if I know it well enough to explain it...****

********There were sections in there where they're recalling things (Like Tsunade with the cockroaches & stuff and Haruka with her past). Since I wrote this entire chapter in past tense, I wasn't sure how to write it without using "had" 1000 times per sentence. Would anyone be kind enough to help me improve it? Also, if you see any errors, please tell me. Thanks!********


	2. Departure

**Hey~ Here's chapter 2 :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

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><p>"Why'd we have to go so far? This place is at least a mile away from the village." Akio complained, "It's so tiresome to come all the way out here. Plus, I have to go back after this."<p>

Haruka snorted, "Just deal with it. If you have enough energy to talk, focus on walking then. I'm sure you've traveled_ much _farther before."

"But that's not the point! It's in the middle of the night, too. I could be sleeping right now if it weren't for you."

They were currently under the disguise of two colorfully dressed travelers entering a small tourist town just north of Konoha. Normally, it would have been suspicious to see two people walking around at that hour, but the town they were heading to was well known for a reason. During the day, it seemed just like any other place; however, at night, it came to life. Tourists often visited it to enjoy the colorful display of lights and banners in the later hours and to buy various goodies from vendors. It was a festive little town, wrapped in happiness all year long. It also made it the perfect place to go, seeing how Haruka and Akio needed a place to meet that night about their plans without drawing suspicion.

Haruka looked around in awe, taking in the dazzling sights and the joyous mood. Even the ever tired Akio seemed to be filled with energy. As they walked, her gaze lingered on the vendors lining the street, itching to go look at stuff and maybe even buy a thing or two.

"Miss!" A street vendor called out to her, "Would you like to buy a scarf? Winter is just around the corner, and you sure will need it. These are handmade from the best materials around, and are the cheapest you can find here! I'll even give you two for one!"

For a second, Haruka just wanted to forget everything and to lose herself in hustle and bustle of the streets, but she wasn't there to be a tourist. There was no time for that. She was only there because of the Akatsuki. After a moment of hesitation, she shook her head free of her wants.

"No, it's okay, thank you."

As they continued on their way, on a lookout for an inexpensive hotel to stay in, Akio glanced at her, noticing Haruka's inner struggle.

"You sure you don't want to look around? It's not like we're in a hurry right? At least you should take some time to relax a bit before… _that_, you know."

"Actually we kind of are in a hurry. The sooner I go the better."

Akio raised an eyebrow when Haruka glanced at him sheepishly, "Oh?"

"Not now. I'll tell you later."

"Haruka-chan. Wait."

Akio had spotted a vendor selling tiny trinkets. He made his way over to the cart and looked it over thoughtfully, taking in a vast collection of necklaces, before choosing one. There wasn't anything special about it, just a small red bead that dangled loosely from a leather thong. Quickly, he paid for it, then handed it to Haruka.

"Here. It's a good luck charm. You'll need it."

Haruka rolled her eyes, somewhat embarrassed by Akio's antics, but accepted it gratefully anyway, and tied it carefully behind her neck.

They found a good place to stay shortly after that and paid for the cheapest room the hotel had to offer. As they were heading off, a door key in hand, the woman behind the front counter winked at the pair suggestively. Haruka ignored her pointedly while Akio muttered something about troublesome women. After all, they weren't planning on spending the night, and definitely did not have anything like that going on between them.

Once in the safety of a tiny hotel room, Akio cast a chakra proof barrier that also protected them from prying ears and eyes. He then turned to Haruka, who had flopped down tiredly onto the bed.

"So," he started, "Why are you in such a hurry? It hasn't even been one day and the Hokage doesn't know what you're up to either. Unless I'm not the only one who's aware of this."

She sighed, "Yea, you're not. Fox and Badger know. They were both part of my genin team, so I thought I could trust them with the information. Plus, no matter how much of a genius you are, or how high my rank is, two people will not be enough for this. I told them about my plans to infiltrate the Akatsuki, and they didn't take it well."

"They didn't stop you?"

"Oh yes, they tried of course. They were convinced that I was just going to kill myself in the process. The other day, my ANBU team and I were sent on a mission. Unfortunately, one of them died during it, by the hands of the enemy. But then, on the way back, since we were alone, Fox and Badger used that chance to try to stop me. We ended up fighting. They should've been able to overpower me, but I won. I can't remember how I did it. It was all a blur."

"There's been gossip going around the ANBU," Akio suddenly interrupted, "that some captain killed off his entire team purposefully. That was you, wasn't it? They're not really dead are they?"

"They're alive all right. I got my hands on some chakra absorbing shackles, and managed chain them up with those, but that won't hold them down for long. I'm sure that they're free of them by now. It's been hours since that happened."

"We better hurry then. I have a spy who's meeting us later here in this town. He was originally hired by Tsunade, but I convinced him to gather some information about the Akatsuki for me. Meanwhile, we go over everything once more. Just in case."

Haruka sat back up on the bed, no longer feeling tired. She nodded solemnly, knowing that what was ahead of her was no light matter.

"Currently, there are only three known Akatsuki members: Uchiha Itachi, Hoshigaki Kisame, and Orochimaru. We don't know how many of them there are in all, only that they're usually seen in pairs. It is unknown if Orochimaru is still part of the organization, as all sightings of him have reported the absence of the characteristic Akatsuki cloak. We know that he is after Uchiha Sasuke, to get his hands on the Sharingan. Itachi, Sasuke's brother, also possesses it, but his is a level higher: the Mangekyo. His partner, Kisame, is the wielder of the Samehada." Akio paused, handing Haruka a thin black volume. "This contains everything else that is known about them. You should get rid of it after reading it. Also, there have been many shinobi who are worth a lot in the black market reported to be missing. We suspect that that is the doing of the Akatsuki. We also suspect that they're after jinchuuriki, since they attempted the capture of Uzumaki Naruto recently. Usually, they won't kill you unless you have a large bounty over your head or if you are associated with a jinchuuriki. You can use that to your advantage to make contact with them. However, no one knows what their true intentions are."

"So basically, I'm going to get in there and figure out what it is exactly that they're after."

"Right. Which leads to our next topic: collection information. I have a jutsu for this, and it's quite similar to telepathy. It's called Shadow Mind Invasion Technique. This combines the Yamanaka's mind techniques with my clan's shadows. By utilizing the shadows to 'invade' the victim's mind, hence the name, we are able to collect information from them. However, this technique has so little value that no one uses it anymore."

"It sounds like a useful technique to me though, especially for interrogating. You can also use it on spies. It looks like you're trying to kill, but you're actually exchanging information. But then, I don't understand how your shadow is going to reach me if I'm with the Akatsuki."

"Just wait, I'll get there eventually. The main setback is that the information has to be given voluntarily. It's like telepathy, so you can't really force the victim to spill info. You can threaten them with words though, but that rarely works, especially when they know you can't do anything about it. The second problem is that the shadows literally pierce the victim's brain. Most of the time, it'll just kill off the victim the moment the technique is released. Other times, the brain damage would be so severe that it'll just leave the victim in a useless state. And, if they're really lucky, they'll live. So using it on your own spies won't work. Now this is where you come in."

Haruka nodded, suddenly understanding. She was part of the Takimoto Clan, and they were granted immortality by Jashin. Although the immortality wasn't complete, it still allowed them to sustain injuries that should've killed a normal person. It also went against science. Once, on a mission gone wrong, Haruka had been stabbed through the head by an enemy's katana. All of the medics expected her to die sooner or later, but she still lived. The damaged brain tissue had even repaired itself. If Akio used that technique on her, she would be able to survive.

Akio continued, "It looks like you figured it out. I'll use this technique on you, and you can give me any information that you discover. And as for the distance problem…"

He pulled out two sleek kunai, giving them to Haruka. She examined at them closely. They looked like any old weapon, but on the handle, she could see a barely noticeable seal.

"Chakra blades," he explained, "They were really expensive to get, and getting the right seals on there was hard too, so you better not lose them. You only need one, but just in case, I got two. If you have a chance to share your findings, activate the seal and stick it in your shadow. It'll only work for you, since it only responds to your chakra. I'll be able to feel the seal activating no matter where I am, so I'll perform the jutsu if I can. If nothing happens within a minute, then it means that I'm too busy at that moment."

Akio glanced up at the clock hanging from the wall.

"We still have some time until the meeting time with my spy. Let's test the jutsu and the chakra blades right now. It's going to hurt a lot, so be ready."

Haruka slipped off the bed and gripped the kunai handle, pushing a bit of her chakra into the seal. When it started glowing, she plunged it into her shadow on the floorboards beneath her feet. Akio formed the necessary hand signs and whispered, "Shadow Mind Invasion Technique!"

She saw her shadow coiling up around her body like a snake and steeled herself for the pain. A moment later, it exploded behind her eyes. Haruka crumpled to the ground, eyes screwed shut, her body wracked with pain. She bit her lips to keep herself from screaming out in agony. It hurt like hell. Just then, she heard Akio's voice reverberating unnervingly through her mind.

_Haruka-chan… Haruka! Can you hear me?_

_Jeez, you didn't say that it would hurt _this_ much. Now I'm going to have a horrible headache thanks to you! _

_Yea, yea, I know. But that's not important right now. At least this is working. Heal yourself after this, cus you're leaving a bloody mess. We'll have to clean it up too. What a bother._

_That's your fault too._

_Whatever. I'm releasing it now, 'kay?_

Haruka opened her eyes and found herself lying in a pool of blood. Akio stood above her, looking down in concern.

"Hey. You okay? I know it's a pretty gruesome and painful technique, but it's the only way we'll be able to communicate."

She sat up slowly, grumbling something unintelligible under her breath and put her hand on the newly formed wound. A green glow filled the dimly lit room as she stitched her head back together. She sighed in relief as the pain quickly melted away. Then, she looked down distastefully at her appearance and Henged out of her bloodied clothes. Walking around like that was definitely not a good idea. Akio, who had left to get cleaning supplies, entered the room. After cleaning up, the two left the hotel, ready to meet the spy in a different part of town.

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><p>Kim Jimin didn't really know why a Konoha shinobi hired him to gather information about the Akatsuki. He knew that Jiraiya was already out there, slowly but surely digging out their secrets, so he could not see why his input was necessary. In his opinion, Jiraiya was a better source of information and more trusty as well. After all, he was one of the legendary Sannin. Honestly, it didn't concern him. He gets paid. Then he tries his best to find accurate data. That was all that mattered to him. But, as he waited for the shinobi, he couldn't help but wonder.<p>

A group of women chattered happily, admiring the silk kimonos that a vendor near Jimin was selling. He shifted around awkwardly, hyperaware of his surroundings and his dull brown clothing. On the colorful streets, he was just a dark splotch that stuck out like a sore thumb. Internally, he cursed himself for being so stupid. Normally, his disguise would have been perfect, but when everyone else was dressed up so prettily, he was no longer inconspicuous.

He knew that he was several minutes earlier than the agreed meeting time, but he wished that the Konoha shinobi would hurry up. The more he waited, the more he wanted to be swallowed up by the dirt streets of the tourist town. Luckily, his prayers were answered by a light tap on his shoulder.

"Mr. Kim?"

He turned around, coming face to face with a tall man and a young lady. The man, who had spoken, looked at him expectantly; he was probably that shinobi. However, Jimin examined the lady cautiously. She was dressed in a simple lavender kimono and he wasn't sure if she had accompanied the man or if she was just a random passerby. He handed the man a limp plastic bag that he had been holding on to, who took it hesitantly. It contained kimchi, delicious pickled cabbage, and Jimin was known as that in the shinobi world. He had to confirm that the man was indeed the right person.

The man peered at the contents inside confusedly, before a look of understanding dawned on his face.

"Ah. Thanks for the kimchi."

"No problem," he grinned, then gestured towards the woman. "Is the lady with you?"

"Yea. Let's talk somewhere else. It's too busy here."

Jimin nodded, and then allowed the pair to lead the way. He followed them through the town until they arrived at a shabby old hotel. They entered a small room at the end of a dimly lit hallway.

"You—"

"Wait," the man interrupted, before casting a protective barrier around the room. "Go on."

"First off, you know who I am, so I think I deserve to know your names."

The woman shook her head, speaking for the first time since he met her, "You don't need to know that. I would like to keep our identities as secret as possible. We're only looking for information about the Akatsuki."

Suddenly, it occurred to Jimin that the man and women never had dropped the Henges that he had sensed on them. He sighed. It was suspicious, but he had already received the money, so it wouldn't really matter. He continued, "I found the Akatsuki. I'm not sure how accurate this information is, but two of them are currently in Amegakure. I believe that one of them is the leader of both the Akatsuki and the village. The civilians there call the two a 'god' and an 'angel'"

"Hanzo? I'm positive he has no connections with the Akatsuki. Plus, I have never heard of anyone calling him a god," the woman said, doubt creeping into her voice.

"No, it seems that Hanzo is no longer the leader of Ame. My sources say that he's dead."

"Hmm… That's strange. Last time I checked, he was still in power."

"Apparently not. Also, it seems that those two are the only ones in Ame. I don't know where the other members are, but I'm pretty sure that they are spread out across all of the countries. I mapped out every place that people reported seeing the Akatsuki, but there doesn't seem to be any trends."

Jimin pulled out a folded sheet of paper and spread it out onto the bed. The man and woman scrutinized the carefully drawn map. It was marked with red X's, indicating where the Akatsuki were sighted, but there wasn't a lot and the placement of them looked completely random. It held little to no valuable information.

"Did you find any of their hideouts or bases?" The man asked.

"No. Other whereabouts still remain unknown. I apologize for the lack of details, but that is all I know."

"It's fine. We should be the ones apologizing for putting you through so much trouble. Thank you."

"Plus," the woman added, "it's a good place to start."

Jimin bowed his head politely, before leaving the room. His work was done there.

* * *

><p>It was still very dark out, but the vendors had started to clean up their carts and retiring for the night. Fewer and fewer shoppers roamed the streets until there were only a few stragglers left.<p>

Haruka and Akio were tired, but they decided it was best to leave as early as possible. Akio had to get back to Konoha before the sky started lighting up. On the other hand, Haruka was heading to Amegakure, where the spy reported the presence of the Akatsuki.

"See 'ya later, Haruka-chan," Akio forced a smile onto his face, unable to say goodbye.

"Yup. Don't worry too much about me okay?"

With that, they parted ways.

Haruka jumped into the branches of the trees surrounding the town, unable to travel by ground due to the dense undergrowth. She pushed chakra into her feet to boost up her speed, hoping to get to Amegakure as fast as she could without using up too much energy. Anything could happen on the way to the hidden village, and Haruka had to be ready.

Akio was no longer with her, and she wished that they could've spent more time together. She had no idea when they would ever be able meet again. She had also left Konoha behind, not knowing if she'd ever be able to go back. It left her heart hurting. Of course, she tried to keep her mind preoccupied with something else, but it was hard.

Eventually, everything that was bothering Haruka slipped from her mind, pulled into her monotonous traveling. Her breath was visible in front of her and she shivered a bit. It was getting closer to the end of the year, and the temperature had started to drop rapidly. Suddenly, Haruka wished that she had bought a scarf from one of the vendors. It would've kept her warm until the winter passed. But then, it could've also gotten in the way if she had to fight. As her thoughts started trailing off, she heard a rustle behind her. Haruka would have dismissed it as the wind, but when she concentrated on her surroundings, she sensed chakra. Whoever was following her had their chakra hidden well, but not well enough. She continued to move forward, pretending to be unaware.

Not a moment later, a chakra enhanced kunai buried itself into her backside.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: While writing this, I had this horrible flashback. There were these videos about puberty that we were forced to watch in elementary school… and the one that my teacher showed us was called "Just Around the Corner." I think you get the rest xD**

**And about the spy… Kim Jimin, aka "Kimchi" (get it? :D Like _Kim Ji-_min, but with a "ch?") was supposed to be for this other fanfiction that I was going to write with my friend (which we never did), but I never got the chance to use the name, so here it is. I know the entire kimchi thing was kind of silly, but I just had to include it.**

**This chapter had a lot of talking, so I promise there'll be action in the next chapter ;)**


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